Thymalin

Epithalon (also spelled Epitalon) is a synthetic four-amino-acid peptide, Ala-Glu-Asp-Gly (AEDG), modeled on a natural pineal gland extract. It came out of decades of Russian gerontology research led by Vladimir Khavinson and is marketed as an anti-aging compound that supposedly switches telomerase back on. It has no approval from the FDA, EMA, or other Western regulators, and the human evidence is thin.

Thymosin alpha-1 (sold as Zadaxin, generic name thymalfasin) is a 28-amino-acid peptide originally isolated from the thymus gland, the organ that trains your immune system. Unlike most peptides in this space, it is a real, approved drug in over 35 countries for chronic hepatitis B and as an immune booster, though it has never been approved by the FDA in the United States. It has one of the larger human evidence bases of any peptide here, with trials in tens of thousands of patients.

Vilon is a synthetic dipeptide, Lys-Glu (lysine-glutamic acid), one of the short peptide bioregulators developed by Vladimir Khavinson's group at the St. Petersburg Institute of Bioregulation and Gerontology in Russia. It is marketed in the anti-aging and immune-support space as a thymus-related bioregulator, but the real evidence base is almost entirely Russian animal studies. There are no registered Western randomized human clinical trials, so any human claims should be read with heavy skepticism.

Chonluten is a synthetic tripeptide (Glu-Asp-Gly, EDG) from the Khavinson bioregulator family, pitched as the lung and bronchial peptide, derived conceptually from the same program that produced Epitalon and Cortagen. It is researched for respiratory tissue and age-related lung decline, and it has no FDA or EMA approval. The evidence is essentially all preclinical or uncontrolled Russian clinical observation, with no randomized human trials.

Crystagen is a synthetic tripeptide (Glu-Asp-Pro, or EDP) from the Khavinson family of short peptide bioregulators, studied as an immune and thymic regulator. It is a research compound, not an approved drug, with no registered human clinical trials. Note: many vendor pages list the wrong sequence; the correct one is Glu-Asp-Pro (EDP).

Pinealon is a synthetic tripeptide, Glu-Asp-Arg (the EDR peptide), from the Russian peptide-bioregulator family designed to mimic short signaling peptides found in brain tissue. It is studied as a neuroprotective and antioxidant compound, with researchers proposing it protects neurons from oxidative stress and supports cognition. Be clear-eyed about the evidence: it is essentially all cell-culture and animal work from a small set of related labs, with no human clinical trials and no regulatory approval.